Leviticus 13:5

5 The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if he sees that the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall confine him seven days more.

Leviticus 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 13:5

And the priest shall look on him the seventh day
In the day, and not in the night, as Maimonides, but not on the seventh day, if it happened to be on the sabbath F6, then it was put off till after it; and, according to the Jewish canons F7, they do not look upon plagues in the morning, nor in the evening, nor in the middle of a house, nor on a cloudy day, nor at noon, but at the fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth hours:

and, behold, [if] the plague in his sight be at a stay;
it appears to the priest, according to the strictest view he can take of it, that it is in the same state and condition it was, neither better nor worse:

[and] the plague spread not in the skin:
is not greater or larger than it was, though not less:

then the priest shall shut him up seven days more;
such abundant care was taken, lest after all it should prove a leprosy.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Misn. Negaim, c. 1. sect. 4.
F7 Misn. ib. c. 2. sect. 2.

Leviticus 13:5 In-Context

3 The priest shall examine the disease on the skin of his body, and if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous disease; after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him ceremonially unclean.
4 But if the spot is white in the skin of his body, and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall confine the diseased person for seven days.
5 The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if he sees that the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall confine him seven days more.
6 The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the disease has abated and the disease has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption; and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
7 But if the eruption spreads in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.